As you will recall from the last update, my family and I recently moved to a new state and I started a new job. Thanks for your patience during this transition!
Now that we've settled into our new digs, zine shipping commences this week!
The mailing assembly is set up to go!
The first batch will go to the post office tomorrow; I anticipate everything will be en route by Wednesday. Tracking information will be sent directly to the email you provided with your survey within the next few days.
Everything will be sent in cardboard mailers or bubble envelopes. I've never had a problem with damaged shipments on my previous campaigns; if something does show up in bad shape, drop me an email with photos and I'll make things right.
First, the zines have arrived! Two boxes dropped on my doorstep last week filled with full-color beasts and I couldn't be more excited. This means I'll be locking surveys soon and getting the digital versions out to you.
Now for some slightly bad news: I may not get the physical zines and add-ons in the mail this month. The initial plan was for December, so I'll still get them out ahead of the preliminary timeline, but I'm preparing to move my family to a new state due to a job change and we have a lot to do in a short amount of time. I'll try my best to get them processed but a lot will depend on when we get our housing situation straight.
As a "thank you" for your patience I'm adding VTT tokens of all the monsters in the zine for everyone who ordered the book! They'll be available in a .zip file when the downloads are released.
That's all for now -- I'll send another update when the books start hitting mailboxes!
Thanks to the 90% of you who have completed your surveys! As a reminder, completing the survey by Monday ensures that your name will be included in the "thank you" session of the zine.
I'll be ordering the print run of the zine next week! It will take a month or so for them to arrive in my hands; I'll send another update at that point.
I just released the surveys out into the wild. It took a little longer than I anticipated to get through the process, so I'm extending the deadline to September 15 to complete the survey if you want your name in the "thank you" section of the zine. That having been said, don't delay in getting your survey in!
Speaking of the zine, proofreading is done, all edits have been made, and the file is almost ready to send to the printer. As soon as I get the backer names into the file I'll be sending it off!
Hello, fellow reavers! I have some key updates to share, so let's dive in:
Sample Zine
First, I've received a sample print of A Bestiary of Children's Nightmares:
Do you dare open this cursed zine?
The colors look even better in person!
I'm currently going over the sample with a fine tooth comb to identify any issues, and an editor will be going over it this week. After that the file will go to Goodman Games for approval as part of their licensing process. As soon as I get the greenlight I'll prepare the files for the full print run.
Patches Are In
Second, the gongfarmer patches have arrived!
Yes, I've already put one on my battle vest.
I'm really pleased with how the patch turned out. It's not shown here, but each patch will have an iron-on backing for easy application.
Next Steps
If all goes according to plan the surveys will go out within the next two weeks. If you'd like your name included in a special "thank you" section of the zine, be sure to complete the survey by September 1; that's when I hope to submit the order for the print run.
If you didn't grab any of the project add-ons (such as the patch), you'll be able to add them to your order as part of the survey, along with paying for shipping.
Gen Con Recap
Finally, I had a great four days at Gen Con! I ran five sessions, including The Road to Castle Whiterock (Goodman Game's 2025 funnel experience), the MCC funnel Museum at the End of Time (a personal favorite), and two GG 5e adventures: One Night in the Sinister Citadel and The Sunken Temple of Set.
A mighty party of Seekers after their victory in the museum!
Museum at the End of the Time was a highlight, especially the party that successfully brought down a saline serpent -- a feat I'd never seen in 15 playthroughs of the module!
I also played in a Star Trek Adventures game (a system I've been wanting to try for years):
"The Prophets will guide us, captain!"
The session was a nice mix of classic Trek storytelling, side jokes among the players, and brute forcing our way through the dilemma (we completely sidestepped the backstory and still wound up successfully completing the mission!). I'm really glad I got to try the system and I hope I have the opportunity to run it in the future.
That's all for now. Unless something noteworthy happens I'll post another update in late September when I receive the zines!
